More and more people are purchasing goods and services electronically, such as over the Internet. These mechanisms provide an outlet for suppliers having surplus inventory, and often allow purchasers to obtain desired goods or services at below-market rates. One common example of an electronic exchange between purchasers and suppliers is the “electronic travel agent,” used to place an offer for travel accommodations, such as hotel rooms or airline tickets. However, existing electronic exchanges suffer from various problems. For instance, schemes employed by existing systems to satisfy offers from purchasers with quotes from suppliers do not create an incentive for the suppliers to quote their goods or services at rates significantly below market rates because the suppliers cannot benefit from quoting low rates. One reason is that existing systems satisfy a purchaser's offer by simply querying a list of suppliers to determine whether one or more of them can provide accommodations at a given rate, based on the offer value. The first qualified supplier that satisfies the offer is selected as the winner of the offer, even if the selected supplier does not quote the lowest rate. There is no incentive for a supplier to quote a lower rate.
In addition, existing schemes charge a purchaser the value of the purchaser's offer even if that value exceeds what the purchaser would have paid without the aid of the electronic travel service system. In other words, even if the purchaser's offer exceeds a published rate for the accommodations, existing schemes punish the purchaser by charging her the full value of the offer.
An effective electronic exchange system for satisfying an offer by a purchaser with a quote from a supplier has eluded those skilled in the art.